I'm planning to buy a new pc for Xmas. I've worked out a config. Give your valuable comments. =================================== Pentium 4 / 2.6CGHz 512k socket 478 ASUS P4C800-E DELUXE KINGSTON KVR333X64C25/256 256MB 32x64 PC2700 DDR RAM WD 80GB 7200RPM Hard disk and a graphics card. Which graphics card should I buy? Why is P4 2.4c costlier than P4 2.6c? Which mobo should I prefer, Intel or Asus ? thanks.
The "C" Pentium 4's run an 800MHz FSB. You'll kill your bandwith running anything less than PC3200 (400MHz) DDR. Right now you've got PC2700 (333MHz). The 2.4C part is the same as the 2.6C one, except for a 200Mhz clock speed difference. Both really seem to overclock very well and to about the same speed. The 2.4C will end up with a higher FSB at the same overclocked speed as the 2.6C as Intel locks the multipliers on the P4's. More people want to buy the 2.4C part, and the demand goes up. Probably the best card to go with that config is a Radeon 9800XT. Not only is it the fastest card with proper DX9 implementation, it has a free coupon for the upcoming Half-Life 2---the full version. That's a $50 value there, and the card retails for $399.
Personnally I'd buy 2 sticks of memory so you can have dual channel, which does improve performance, unlike in an amd setup. I would also get the Abit IC7(whether you take the "G" or the "MAX3" is up to you), although I don't have any scientific arguments for it. Saying that Asus has a crappy customer service is just plain wrong because that would mean that they have one, but they don't, so we can't speculate on what it would be like if they did. That's at least one reason not to go for Asus. As far as Intel mobos go, I'm not sure. I know they make great chipsets, but I don't know about the value of their board. In any case, you can't go wrong with the Abit.
Intel makes boards that work well, but are not something you want if you'd like to tweak your settings. I usually don't buy Asus simply because they make some of the most expensive products available and they haven't been offering the storage controller options I've been intrested in. Gigabyte also makes a pretty loaded i875P motherboard. The exact name escapes me at the moment, but it's pretty loaded. Just don't look at the one with the dual U320 SCSI since that board runs well over $300. They've got 3-4 boards based on the i875P, so you should be able to choose one that best fits your budget. If you don't need alot of bells and whistles, just performance, Abit's IC7 board (or one of it's variants) runs around $130, and that's a pretty good deal for a board of that class.
